
New task force looks to boost Northeast Ohio music industry
Things are looking up for local musicians and venue owners with the creation of Cuyahoga LIVE!, a task force focused on strengthening Northeast Ohio's music scene.
Why it matters: The task force, led by Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne, represents one of the most significant partnerships in Cleveland history between local government and the live entertainment industry.
Catch up quick: Cuyahoga LIVE! comes on the heels of the 2023 Greater Cleveland Music Census, which surveyed nearly 2,800 industry professionals, venue owners and musicians.
The resulting 24-page report found that Cleveland has a "relatively healthy music ecosystem," but improvements are needed.
That includes better marketing and audience development, tax breaks and grants for venues, and more inclusivity.
It also suggested creating a local music commission to manage initiatives.
The intrigue: The first move for Cuyahoga LIVE! is to form committees to examine ways to improve audience and workforce development, culture and belonging, and artist and industry support.
Cuyahoga LIVE! will serve as a precursor to a full-time local music commission in charge of implementing initiatives outlined in the census.
What they're saying:"This needed to happen," Sean Watterson, co-owner of Happy Dog and co-founder of the Cleveland Independent Venue Association, tells Axios.
"The goal is to identify what the priorities are for a music commission so that when we're at a stage where we get funding, we're clear on what we need to do."
💭 Troy's thought bubble: I've covered music on a local level for nearly 20 years. Anyone involved will tell you it's extremely challenging to succeed.
While it was already tough before COVID, venue owners like Watterson tell me it's gotten even tougher post-pandemic — recovering from financial hardships and adjusting to new industry trends.
Watterson says the difference between Cuyahoga LIVE! and other like-minded plans of the past is the involvement of a high-ranking local official like Ronayne, who listed the local music industry as a priority in his 2024 State of the County address.
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Time Magazine
an hour ago
- Time Magazine
The True Story Behind Netflix's Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy
In November 2021, the third Astroworld music festival commenced in Houston, Tex., the hometown of rap superstar Travis Scott. Scott had a personal affinity for the Six Flags AstroWorld theme park in Houston that had closed its doors in 2005, naming his six-time platinum certified 2018 album after it and holding the inaugural festival near the site of the demolished amusement park. After canceling the 2020 edition because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Astroworld 2021 promised to be bigger than the two editions before, expanding the festival from one day to two, while uniting tens of thousands of young fans who had missed out on valuable concert-going experiences since the pandemic began. 'It's a carefree world' is how concertgoer Kaia Redus describes the festival in Netflix's Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy, which details how the Houston celebration turned into a death trap with 10 fatalities, with the youngest victim only nine years old, as well as hundreds of injuries. 'It was a concert you didn't want to miss, and you knew it was going to be fun,' explains Sophia Santana, another survivor, with enthusiasm and certainty. The feature-length documentary, releasing June 10, is the first in a weekly series that digs into big event meltdowns that made headlines, created corporate scandals, and often cost lives. Directed by Yemi Bamiro, the film includes interviews with survivors and experts and uses footage shot on concertgoers' phones to explain how such a massive crowd crush happened during Travis Scott's headlining performance and what happened in the aftermath. What led to the deaths at Astroworld? Astroworld was organized by LiveNation, the biggest live event promoter in the U.S. bar none, and the company was eager to capitalize on Scott's 'rager' brand when Astroworld returned. As The Astroworld Tragedy shows, footage of fans breaking down fences to get into the 2019 Astroworld was used to promote the festival's return. Kirby Gladstein, a returning festival photographer, recalls her team was instructed to lean into the chaos of Scott's performances. Gladstein seemed anxious to share her perspective on the temperature of the festival and how the organizers lost control, as she believes the blame lies at LiveNation's feet. 'They hold so much of this industry in the palm of their hand,' says Gladstein. 'By talking about what happened at Astroworld, I know that I'm jeopardizing my career, ultimately.' (No representative of LiveNation is interviewed in the documentary, though their responses are included in text at the end of the film, and include pointing to the roles of SMG Global and the Houston Fire Department in setting sellable capacity for the venue, and stating all relevant parties were aware of event plans and safety codes. The company released their only statement on the tragedy the day after it occurred, in 2021.) The Astroworld Tragedy interviews crowd safety expert Scott Davidson, onsite paramedic Jose Villegas, and security guards Jackson and Samuel Bush (who were only hired hours before the festival began) to paint a picture of the poor planning that contributed to the festival's death tally. The mainstage was unoccupied all day, meaning that fans could camp out for Scott for hours in the hot Houston sun. It also meant that thousands of fans traveled to the headline set from the same direction at the exact same time, creating the perfect conditions for crowd crushing. On the left-hand side of the stage, fans funnelled directly into a pen that added more pressure to fans against barriers with no route of escape. Beginning at 9 p.m., Scott appeared on stage and the crushing quickly worsened; the most upsetting footage of The Astroworld Tragedy is taken from cell phone videos shot inside the pen, showing fans being asphyxiated and crushed in real time while Scott's performance blares unaffected behind them – while Scott would later say he was aware of some fainting and disturbance, he claimed to not realise the gravity of the situation. How did Astroworld organizers respond to the crisis? 'Stop the show! Stop the show! Stop the show!' shout fans as Scott introduces a guest onstage. Despite concertgoers screaming for help en masse, climbing up to restricted areas to demand help from officials, and calling the police, the concert didn't end until an hour after Scott began performing onstage. Davidson concluded (and the documentary team consulted an additional crowd safety expert to verify his findings) that a major fault with the festival was that only two individuals had been delegated authority to stop the concert when it became dangerous, but as Davidson explains, 'any key decision-maker [...] should have been able to very quickly initiate a show stop process, what should have been as simple as a figurative or literal button being pushed.' Meanwhile, crush victims were struggling to breathe and stand up straight. 'I just remember thinking, 'Don't fall down because you won't make it back up,'' recalls Santana. The countdown to 10 p.m. was hectic and lethal, and Davidson quotes the transcript of a LiveNation manager speaking to the audio engineer, one of the only people who could speak directly to Scott onstage: 'We have four active CPRs going on. Two are most likely dead. It is very, very bad. There are more crush victims than I've ever seen in my 25-year career.' Mark Lentini, a former commander for the Houston Police, places the responsibility for the Astroworld tragedy on the festival organizers rather than the police response. He points out how completely predictable the chaos of unauthorized entry and jumping fences would have been to a properly organized festival team. But others see it differently; as Davidson explains, as the crisis was worsening, the Houston Police and LiveNation agreed to continue the concert for Drake to appear onstage to avoid 'trigger crowd panic'. 'The idea of a performance continuing while even one CPR in progress is underway is insane, unprecedented, not to mention multiple,' stresses Davidson. What was the aftermath? Travis Scott's statements on the tragedy were received as insincere by many survivors and victims' loved ones, who tearfully recount the moments at hospitals and reunification centers when they were informed of deaths. Since Astroworld, Scott has made only a few comments on the tragedy, but the song 'My Eyes' on his 2023 album Utopia references his perspective of the event, with one lyric that goes, 'If they just knew what Scotty would do to jump off the stage and save him a child.' In addition to Utopia, Scott has released a companion film Circus Maximus, and is currently nearing the end of a global tour—but Astroworld has not been held since 2021. A grand jury decided not to hold any individual criminally responsible for the tragedy, and the families of victims received out of court settlements for lawsuits brought against Scott and LiveNation. Since Astroworld, LiveNation has faced a host of other legal issues, including a lawsuit from the Department of Justice for monopolization of the music industry, another from the families of an artist who was murdered backstage at a festival, and criticism of their hostile arbitration rules. Netflix's documentary gets to the heart of how something as traumatic and confounding as the Astroworld crowd crush happened, but the questions it ends on—Why didn't someone stop it? Will it happen again?—are left terrifyingly unanswered.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Vermont musician Reid Parsons' long road to debut album culminates with Burlington concert
Reid Parsons is a perfectionist. That explains in part why the 32-year-old Vermont musician took so many years before releasing their debut full-length album, 'Back to Back.' 'I have high expectations for myself in general,' Parsons, who uses they/she pronouns, told the Burlington Free Press in a recent conversation over coffee at Scout in Burlington. The long road to 'Back to Back' has to do with more than a desire to make everything perfect. It represents Parsons' resistance to what society expects, and to embrace creativity. 'Art is one of the things I struggle the most with, and (with) being a musician,' said Parsons, who celebrates the release of 'Back to Back' with a June 12 concert at Foam Brewers in Burlington. 'I feel like it would be easier to do literally anything else. It's like my fight against the extremely strong pull of the tide.' Parsons grew up in Moretown, and their father and grandmother were both musicians. Parsons took part in the renowned music program at Harwood Union High School, noting that 'all the stuff I care about' artistically was prevalent in the Mad River Valley. 'I just got very lucky,' Parsons said. They went from Harwood to Harvard, studying anthropology and music at one of the nation's most prestigious universities. The music program was classical-heavy and 'super-challenging,' Parsons said, but they did learn about string arrangements, complex horn parts and the importance of musical layers and textures, all of which came into play for 'Back to Back.' Parsons created most of the material for the album during the COVID-19 lockdown. They missed performing with other musicians, so working on songs by playing guitar, keyboards and saxophone made it feel like a band. They also did so much alone because they were still developing as an artist. 'I just wanted to see what I could make on my own,' Parsons said. 'I didn't want to have other people's energy, positive or negative, influence my work.' Parsons even avoided listening to other music during the four-year process of making 'Back to Back.' COVID made Parsons realize it was time to carpe diem to make a full-length album. 'It was for many people a wake-up call about our mortality,' they said of those dark days of 2020. Parsons recorded a couple of mini-albums over the years, including one resulting from winning a singer-songwriter competition. That EP, Parsons said, sounded 'fast and nervous.' They wanted 'Back to Back' to feel more wide-open and self-assured. 'I like lush layers,' Parsons said. 'I am obsessed with musical texture.' The new album displays Parsons' near-flawless, alternately delicate yet firm voice placed over tasteful guitar, evocative trumpet notes and punchy percussion, particularly on the lead title track. Their original songs (plus a smoky cover of Bruce Springsteen's 'I'm on Fire') are easygoing but inspired, full of momentum. Some tracks, like 'Get Out of Bed,' jump with a bluesy push. 'Show Me You Love Me' shimmers with simmering soul. Parsons worked on 'Back to Back' with engineer Ben Collette at Tank Recording Studio in Burlington. Musicians including drummer Russ Lawton, electric guitarists Steve Simollardes and Ian Mack, cellist Emily Taubl, trumpet player Connor Young, saxophonist Avery Cooper and pedal-steel guitarist Brett Lanier perform on the album, with Parsons on vocals, piano and acoustic guitar. Being a musician is 'a really weird profession,' Parsons said, as vulnerable songs created privately suddenly become very public. 'It's really scary releasing this.' Parsons is happy with the result. 'I'm just very proud that I did it,' they said. That pride has a lot to do with Parsons' desire to find a better work-life balance and to fight the pull of society. Parsons ran the Intervale Food Hub during the pandemic and now works as business manager at the Institute for Agroecology at the University of Vermont. The day jobs (nearly half of Parsons' paychecks) helped pay for the album. Parsons sees 'Back to Back' as a significant effort toward making creativity the dominant part of their life. The reason to record 'Back to Back' is basic: 'Because I'm an artist and I want to make art,' they said. Parsons said mainstream society has rewarded them and pays the bills. Now it's time to 'pull the music into the forefront,' they said. 'I wanted to tip the scales to the creative side,' Parsons said. 'I needed to inject that into me, invest in my own artistry.' They did just that and now feel better prepared to make future recordings. 'It feels like a huge thing to have gotten that out of the way,' said Parsons, who hopes to use 'Back to Back' as a springboard to go on tour and become a self-sustaining musician. Parsons played the songs from 'Back to Back' at a recent rehearsal with the musicians who will perform as their backing band for the Foam Brewers show. 'It was so (expletive) cool to hear,' they said, as hidden qualities of the songs emerged. 'It was like this wave of euphoria.' WHAT: Reid Parsons album-release concert WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday, June 12 WHERE: Foam Brewers, Burlington INFORMATION: Free. Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@ This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont musician Reid Parsons celebrates album with Burlington show


Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Paul English and Rachel Cohen's grand wedding at an Irish five star resort was the stuff of fairy tales
Rachel does remember Paul's 'power pose': arms crossed with a slight lean forward. Paul is the founder of career path working for luxury brands, which, to a guy who wears 'sweatshirts and T-shirts,' was intriguing, he says. On Friday, guests were able to explore the grounds of the 840-acre estate — visiting the falconry and taking carriage rides before the welcome dinner. Most stayed on site for the wedding weekend. Christina Brosnan They matched in November 2019. Rachel, then 31 and a Miami native living in New York then 31, was surprised that the app had connected her with someone outside of her set dating preferences. (She and Paul have a 20-year age gap between them.) Still, when he asked her to dinner at 'She was like, ' Just go — what else are you going to do?' says Rachel. Advertisement At dinner, they were seated next to an Academy Award-nominated actor and an uber-famous fashion magazine editor with an equally famous bob. 'I was listening to him, but I'm also trying to listen to the conversation next to us,' remembers Rachel. The Irish ceremony was not overtly religious, however, the pair incorporated a few Jewish traditions from Rachel's family, including a custom chuppah and breaking the glass. The couple also used Rachel's father's tallit during the ceremony. Christina Brosnan Paul, however, won her attention. Nerves and hesitations untangled over shared plates of pasta before they headed to a nearby jazz club called Advertisement 'It was something I didn't expect,' says Rachel, 'but it was such a great, fun, easy date.' He said he had known the moment she stepped out of a taxi at the date's start that he wanted a second; 'but by the time we got to Groove, I really wanted to see her again." His regular work trips from Boston to New York grew from a few days to long weekends during their budding romance. They took leisurely walks through the city during the day and went to hear live jazz at night, pausing for snacks and cocktails along the way. A dozen strings musicians on pedestals lined the aisle, playing — a vision Rachel had when they first began to plan for their big day. Rachel's processional song was "Hallelujah." Christina Brosnan The Covid-19 pandemic, however, put those dates on hold. They talked daily, exchanging texts between meetings while they worked from their respective homes. 'It felt very quickly like Rachel was my best friend,' says Paul. 'We had only gone out a handful of times, and [then], it was nightly FaceTimes.' When travel restrictions loosened, the relationship began to evolve. They introduced each other to close friends, and weekends together stretched into weekdays. Guests were guided by a team of equestrians and hunting dogs to the next event following the cocktail hour. Christina Brosnan A turning point came around Rachel's birthday in 2022. Paul joined her on a trip to Florida to meet her family. 'It was one of those moments of 'What are we doing? Where do we want this to go?'' explains Rachel. 'Because it could either be like, we leave it as is... casual and just fun, or do we want to try to make this work?' Related : Rachel had found herself falling for Paul's good humor and 'approach to humanity.' Both had been frequent daters before they met, and the contextual contrast, for Rachel, helped: 'When you meet people with substance, it's different,' she says. 'He felt like a different level — it drew me in.' Advertisement In addition to a boots-on-the-ground planning team in Ireland, Rachel turned to Etsy, Canva, and her own graphic design skills to create personalized surprises for their guests — from a Paul-Rachel-themed Monopoly board that was left in the resort's sitting rooms to themed newspapers with information about the two and the weekend ahead. Christina Brosnan Paul loved Rachel's duality — her kindness, as well as, her professional ability to command a room and navigate different personalties. He remembers being impressed by her confidence when he overheard her running a meeting while they both worked from home. Her warmth won over his adult son and daughter from a previous marriage. '[My kids] know she has my back... I think both my kids like how happy I am,' says Paul. 'It feels good to have a best friend and a partner who knows everything — the good, bad and ugly — and [is] still my rock." By April 2023, Rachel had moved in with Paul in Boston, where they currently reside with their miniature Yorkshire terrier, Koko. While the couple calls the Seaport home base, they are largely unmoored, estimating they clock 100,000 travel miles each year. The custom dance floor featured the pair's initials — however, it may have gone unnoticed once their band Brooklyn Soul got revelers out of their seats. Rachel gown is by designer Monique Lhuillier; Paul's tuxedo is by Pal Zileri. Christina Brosnan And after Paul proposed that September — moments before the 60th birthday party Rachel had planned for him at Warehouse XI in Somerville — their international mileage ramped up as they prepared for a wedding in Ireland. The multi-day destination celebration took place at the 19th-century former manor home-turned-five-star golf resort named They worked with Irish wedding planner Advertisement American-born Irish dancers and social media stars The Gardiner Brothers were one of several acts that paid tribute to Irish culture throughout the weekend. The duo performed during dinner, but also "dance bombed" the couple during their reception entrance. Christina Brosnan The extravaganza kicked off Friday afternoon; the couple aimed to surprise and delight. A welcome party featured performers who wrote original poems, played the lira, and passed telegrams between guests. By evening, the manor Tack Room was transformed for live music, burlesque, and magic — and a tight five by Paul — before guests were sent to bed with late-night snacks delivered in custom boxes from 'Koko's pizzeria.' (One of the many custom elements Rachel had designed.) They wed in the afternoon on April 26. While they had anticipated rain (it's Ireland), the ceremony took place under blue skies. The couple had legally tied the knot in a New York City Hall ceremony in January, but their April 'I do's were especially poignant, featuring vows they had written themselves. 'I wanted [our guests] to know what a good human Paul is — a good father, grandfather, partner, businessman,' says Rachel of her vows. 'I wanted people to see that it's more than just the one version that they know... or get to see." The giant (inflatable) polar bear is a running joke for the couple who first saw a street artist wearing the costume while on a trip to Berlin, Germany. Rachel ordered a version of the costume as surprise at Paul's 60th birthday, where it hovered over the pair while he proposed. It would have been rude then not invite the bear to the wedding. Christina Brosnan Rachel's design directive for the black tie optional reception had been 'magical, secret garden.' In the manor's Grand Ballroom, floral overgrowth hung among crystal chandeliers, jewel-tone velvet draped the tables and stage, where TikTok-famous Irish dancers newlyweds' first dance was to Aerosmith's 'I Don't Want to Miss a Thing.' F ol lowing t he wedding, they stayed a few more blissful days to explore the Emerald Isle. Advertisement The memories were plentiful , for Paul, the journey will always be his favorite part. 'When the flight attendant says, 'Please buckle your seatbelt,' I get really excited, because it means Rachel and I are off to our next adventure.' Read more from , The Boston Globe's new weddings column. Rachel Kim Raczka is a writer and editor in Boston. She can be reached at